28 Supreme Court judges boycott assembly, leaving it without quorum over TK

Judges boycott the assembly

On Tuesday, 3 November, First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński convened an extraordinary General Assembly of Supreme Court judges for 14:00 to take a position on the situation around the Constitutional Tribunal (TK). Before it began, 28 of the court's 125 judges announced they would not take part. Włodzimierz Wróbel, a criminal chamber judge, posted two statements with identical wording on Facebook: one signed by 15 criminal chamber judges and the other by 13 judges from the civil chamber and the public affairs chamber. Court spokesman Igor Zgoliński said it was hard to predict how many judges would show up.

Quorum missing at the assembly

Kapiński told an afternoon briefing that the assembly could not adopt a resolution because the quorum was absent. He blamed part of the judges, those appointed before 2017 whom he described as the old judges, for the shortfall. He said there was no quorum in the civil chamber or the criminal chamber. He added that 55 judges present backed a resolution the court's Panel (Kolegium SN) had already adopted on the TK situation.

“Unfortunately, because of the stance of some judges, so-called old judges appointed before 2017, there was no quorum required for the General Assembly to adopt a resolution.”

Declined to attend28

Present and backed Panel resolution55

Declined to attend

28 judges

Present and backed Panel resolution

55 judges

Data from the article text

What the Panel resolution says

The Panel resolution, published on the Supreme Court website as the assembly opened, expresses firm opposition to actions that undermine the constitutional principles of the judiciary. It singles out the removal of TK president Bogdan Święczkowski, which it says breaches article 7 of the constitution. The document argues that the most senior judge can direct TK work only when the posts of president and vice-president are vacant, a condition it says was not met. In the Panel's view, the duties of the TK president have therefore been handed to a person with no authority to perform them. The Panel stresses that this removal took place without a legal basis and outside statutory procedures.

Judges' objections to Kapiński

The 28 signatories gave four reasons for refusing to attend. They argued that Kapiński was appointed to the post of first president in breach of the constitution and the 2017 law on the Supreme Court. They also objected that the assembly would include judges appointed under 2017 National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) rules, in a process they said grossly breached the constitution. A third objection concerns the convening date, which they say broke article 17 §2a of the Supreme Court law, and the fourth is that a quorum could not be reached. The statements also criticised Kapiński's night visit with President Karol Nawrocki to the TK headquarters on the night of 30-31 October, saying the Tribunal is a judicial body that must be free from political pressure and that its own judges alone should decide on its functioning. They said contacts between the first president and the executive, including the president, should be limited to cases strictly defined in law.